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For centuries European artists have portrayed Jesus of Nazareth as a man who mirrors their own ethnicity. Is this an example of cultural appropriation? A recent NPR article features an historic 150 year old Rhode Island stained glass window with dark- skinned Galilean Jesus interacting with sisters Mary and Martha, but as equals (see Luke 10:38-42 parable). 

Created by the Harry E. Sharp Studio of N.Y., “The Black Gospel” was commissioned by Mary P. Carr to honor her two aunts, both of whom had married into slave trading families. Was she attempting to honor women of conscience, however flawed and ineffective their efforts? In the 19th century powerful themes swirled around race, Rhode Island’s role in the slave trade, abolitionism, women’s place in society, the controversial American Colonization Society, the Compromise of 1877.

This Sunday April 28, after worship service in the Michelson Room, and on May 2, at 7 pm on Zoom, we will offer an opportunity to explore Cultural Appropriation within a friendly informal conversation. Please register for the Zoom conversation through this link found in Highlights: https://www.wbur.org/news/2024/02/26/stained-glass-window-jesus-person-of-color-moves-tennessee

—Gloria Legvold, for the Racial Justice Team Planning Group